Infectiously funny moments of happiness at the Cartoonmuseum Basel
Published: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 15:10
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Gerhard Glück's lovingly funny to bitingly satirical pictures have earned him a regular place in important newspapers and magazines. The Cartoonmuseum Basel is now showing a selection of his works, which also impress with their painterly quality.
A little boy stands bewildered in front of his mother on the beach and shows his pitch-black hands. The mother's comment: "What did mom say? Don't touch the Black Sea." Another picture, which is not commented on, shows a small house in a summer landscape with a conservatory, which is to be understood literally: a woman can be seen shoveling snow.
The two pictures reveal Gerhard Glück's wide range and infectiously comic inventiveness. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Anette Gehrig, Director of the Cartoon Museum, described him not as a cartoonist, but as an "important representative of comic painting".
Glück presents witty, absurd and bizarre everyday situations as well as bitingly satirical commentaries on world events. His protagonists are mostly exaggerated and corpulent average people in the second half of their lives. He shows them in situations that turn out to be extraordinary at second glance.
The works captivate with their subtle and highly original approach to the content, which he often underpins with sarcastic and ironic commentary. Some make you laugh spontaneously, others make you smile thoughtfully
Picturesque quality
A quality characteristic of Glück, who publishes his pictures in "NZZ Folio" and the "Süddeutsche Zeitung", among others, is his painterly care and attention to detail. His scenes are embedded in environments reminiscent of works by the great masters of naturalism or realism. He also satirizes them himself with loving irony.
The exhibition "Gerhard Glück. The Simple Life" at the Cartoonmuseum Basel presents a thematically structured, comprehensive retrospective of the German master of comic painting, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year. The exhibition runs until March 9, 2025.
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